Italy name team to front Boks: 'It will be a very intense, physical match'
Italy coach Kieran Crowley has named his team to face the Springboks in Genoa on Saturday.
The Italians are on a three-match win-streak, having defeated Australia, Samoa and Wales in their last three outings.
The New Zealand coach said he was expecting a physical onslaught from the world champions. Crowley made two changes to the starting XV that stunned the Wallabies 28-27 in Florence last weekend, with prop Pietro Ceccarelli and hooker Giacomo Nicotera the two newcomers.
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"We achieved a historic result against Australia, but we are not satisfied," Crowley said. "The following day the focus was immediately shifted to South Africa. It will be a very intense match from a physical point of view.
"We have studied our opponents and prepared our engagement in the best possible way. We continue on this path proving to be competitive in every game."
Saturday's Test at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris kicks off at 15:00 (SA time).
Teams:
Italy
15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Montanna Ioane, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Substitutes: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Ivan Nemer, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 David Sisi, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Edoardo Padovani, 23 Tommaso Menoncello
South Africa
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Damian de